1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electric connection building block, and in particular to a contact type of electric connection building block capable of reducing the numbers of components and omitting soldering processes when assembling.
2. The Prior Arts
Building blocks are a popular toy which allows players to construct anything, ranging from robot to airplane. There are various types of building blocks developed by manufacturers to provide more variety of the toy. Now, there are electric connection building blocks available in the market. The electric connection building block includes electronic components, such as LED lights or audio components, and electric connection posts disposed therein. When a plurality of electric connection building blocks are connected with each other, the electronic components are electrically connected by electric connection posts, such that the electrically connected electronic components would emit light or play sound, which provides more entertainment and fun.
Referring to FIGS. 9 to 11, a conventional electric connection building block includes a base 50, a plurality of electric connection posts 60 and a top cover 70. A plurality of recesses 51 are defined in a bottom of the base 50 and a circuit board 52 is disposed on a top of the base 50. The circuit board 52 has a light member 53 (or an audio member for an audio building block) and a set of connection circuit (not shown in drawings) mounted thereon.
The electric connection posts 60 are mounted on the circuit board 52 of the base 50 and includes a positive conducting member 61 and a negative conducting member 62. The positive and negative conducting members 61 and 62 have metal leads 611 and 621, respectively. The metal leads 611 and 621 are soldered on the circuit board 52 and connected with the light member 53 by the connection circuit of the circuit board 52.
The top cover 70 is hollow and light transmittable. The top cover 70 is mounted on the top of the base 50 and the electric connection posts 60 are received in the top cover 70. A top of the top cover 70 has a plurality of hollow studs 71 corresponding to tops of the electric connection posts 60 and communicating with an inner space of the top cover 70.
When the studs 71 of the top cover 70 of the electric connection building block are inserted into the recesses 51 of the base 50 of another electric connection building block, the positive and negative conducting members 61 and 62 of the electric connection building block would connect with corresponding positive and negative conducting members 61 and 62 of another electric connection building block, thereby connecting the light members 53 of the electric connection building blocks in parallel. Referring to FIG. 11, the positive conducting member 61 includes two contact pins 63 and a spring 64. The two pins 63 are disposed at top and bottom ends of the electric connection post 60, respectively. The spring 64 is received in the electric connection post 60 and bias between the two contact pins 63, thereby making the two contact pins 63 be projected out of the top and bottom ends of the electric connection post 60. The spring 64 is connected with the metal lead 611. The negative conducting member 62 includes a conical spring 65 and a metal connection wire 66 connected with the conical spring 65. The conical spring 65 is disposed at the top of the connection post 60 and sleeved around one of the contact pins 63. The metal connection wire 66 is disposed adjacent to the electric connection post 60. A lower part of the metal connection wire 66 includes a bent portion 67 and a lower end of the metal connection wire 66 is connected with the metal lead 621 of the negative conducting member 62. When two electric connection building blocks are connected with each other, the contact pin 63 disposed at the bottom of the electric connection building block is contacted with the contact pin 63 disposed at the top of another electric connection building block, and the bent portion 67 disposed at the bottom of the electric connection building block is contacted with the conical spring 65 disposed at the top of another electric connection building block. Therefore, the positive conducting members 61 in two electric connection building blocks are connected with each other and the negative conducting members 62 in two electric connection building blocks are connected with each other.
As mentioned above, the positive and negative conducting members 61 and 62 have a complex structure and a lot of components. It is hard to assemble and time consuming. Moreover, the metal leads 611 and 622 of the positive and negative conducting members 61 and 62 need to be soldered on the circuit board 52. Not only labor consuming, but also it would cause environmental contamination. Therefore, there are problems need to be solved.